The Messengers

  I know one day I’ll see someone give me that same look I gave Peter, and that I’ll have to teach them the messenger ways. It’ll be nice to have some company. I don’t know what I’ll tell them, though. I try to stay positive. Maybe I’ll tell them we’re not really messengers of death. Perhaps we’re just here to save a few lucky ones. To change a few things for the better. This thing — this power that I have — it drew me to Peter.

  So maybe it’s a gift, after all.

  I would like to thank the following people for helping me with this book: Mara Bergman, Véronique Baxter, Emily Hahn, Julie Redfern, and John Paul Temple, who taught me about boxing. Thanks also to Arts Council England.

  ALSO BY EDWARD HOGAN

  Hardcover ISBN 978-0-7636-5913-4

  Also available as an e-book

  www.candlewick.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2013 by Edward Hogan

  Cover photograph © 2015 by Aaron Foster/Getty Images

  (stormy beach)

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

  First U.S. electronic edition 2015

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2014939364

  Candlewick Press

  99 Dover Street

  Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

  visit us at www.candlewick.com